Coeliac Awareness Week – spread the word!

We’re sure you have noticed that it’s Coeliac Awareness Week again. Each year Coeliac societies in Ireland & the UK choose a key theme to focus on getting the awareness raising message out to the public and sometimes the health community. This year the theme is on diagnosis.

Did you know…

On average it takes over 13 years for someone to be diagnosed with Coeliac Disease?

An estimated 75% of the UK population have Coeliac Disease but aren’t diagnosed?

If you have a Coeliac in your close family then your close relatives should also get tested as they’ll have a 1 in 10 chance of also having it?

That IBS is a catch-all term for a variety of stomach problems and that anyone being considered for a diagnosis of IBS should first have other conditions including Coeliac Disease excluded as per NICE Guidelines?

That if you or your relative have Thyroid Disease then they’re 3 times more likely to also get Coeliac Disease and should also be tested for Coeliac Disease?

Coeliac Disease is more common than MS yet most people haven’t heard of it or know what it is!

That most people with Coeliac don’t have the ‘classic’ gut related problems

Coeliac Disease is the most common long term disease in America and Europe

So this year we’re supporting our friends at Gluten Free Guerrillas by promoting their handy guide to some of the varied symptoms and diseases that are related to Coeliac Disease, see below.

What you can do…

If you’d like to spread awareness and get your friends, relatives and colleagues with many of these symptoms to get tested then spread the word by cutting and pasting this image on your Facebook page & sharing via Twitter with the #CoeliacAwarenessWeek & #CoeliacinTheCity hashtags

Together we can make sure more people get diagnosed!

PS: Also refer people who want to know more to Coeliac UK’s page on how to get diagnosed with more details on the process and initial blood tests to ask for